Anybody using pcb2gcode?

Just found out the hard way that Maytag fabric softener dispensers are auto-clogging :-)

Two days of soaking in denatured alcohol plus using a high pressure washer to get it to a point that it would disassemble :-(

The instructions make no mention, but various web sites warn of the problem... take apart monthly and clean with white vinegar.

[snip] ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |

      Remember: Once you go over the hill, you pick up speed

Saves on softener! It's a Feature!

Ouch. MTBF for Maytag washers and fridges is about 4 years in my experience. Just Nasty.

--Winston

Economic recovery, one hysterically angry customer at a time.

(...)

So, a photo lithographic process then, hmmm? Wow!

Thanks John!

--Winston

Bwahahahahahaha!

Been lucky here. This one was bought in 2001, just before they went Asia. Still working pretty good... no tranny leaks, or anything like that.... yet.

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |

      Remember: Once you go over the hill, you pick up speed

I just got one in three days, from China. ...at least I think it was from China. It was one of our regular suppliers. Other than a stupid mistake (swapped TCK and TMS on the CPLD programming port), easily fixed on the test fixture on the same board, it was flawless. We were worrying about the .5mm pitch BGA. Another manufacturing roadblock bites the dust. ;-)

In man-hours it's rarely faster to roll your own. We had one done outside without solder mask to save $20. What a mistake that was but management has to learn somehow. ;-)

Whirlpool isn't any different, evidently. We're into the third year on our Cabrio washer and the bearings are getting *really* noisy. It's a $750 job to replace them, from what I understand. Not a good deal on a $1000 washer. That'll be the last Whirpool product I buy.

The 'fridge is an Electrolux. Hopefully it'll last a *lot* longer.

Are you tight on enclosure space or the part just doesn't come in anything bigger? We've been tending to follow Joerg's advice lately, which is to avoid BGAs when possible and use the biggest parts that'll actually fit... especially for devices that get tossed around a lot...

Wow. Definitely not worth $20 to omit a soldermask!

---Joel

I have a Whirlpool dishwasher that I bought less than 4 years ago. It has started leaking around the bottom of the door. I've looked for any- and every-thing that might be causing it. No joy. No more Whirlpool for me.

John

(...)

OMG.

When Whirlpool bought Maytag, I hoped Maytag would start to care about what they sold.

Apparently the Maytag Monster infected Whirlpool instead. That is sad. I replaced my very defective Maytag washer with a Whirlpool a decade ago and it has been like a dream. No issues. Well, OK a solenoid valve, but I found a cheap NIB workalike and it runs like a top again.

I really hope the Whirlpool era is not ending.

Got my fingers crossed for ya.

If you have absolutely *nothing* to do, suggest looking at the make of the compressor. If it doesn't say Tecumseh on the side, you have a fighting chance. :)

--Winston

Wow! That is astonishing. They must have turned the board in about

20 minutes and then put it in a time machine to get it through Customs in time. Man!

Can you share the vendor name?

Yup.

--Winston

I like BGAs but this is the first time we've gone under .8mm pitch with one (.5mm isn't a problem on QFPs and such). QFNs caused us a lot of grief, until we figured out that the problems were self-imposed (cross your feet, aim, shoot). We've had extremely good luck with BGAs. I don't recall a failure since we got our oven profile right and that was a RoHS issue. We just bought a 12-stage oven, so that'll be a big improvement over the 4-stage, too.

Yeah, it's real tight. It's on a board sitting in the back-shell of a DE-9 connector. ;-) I was going to use a Xilinx Coolrunner in a QFN-32 but they changed the spec and 32 cells wasn't going to cut it. I'm using a 240 cell Altera Max-IIZ (and half of it is used ;-).

I'll have to post some pictures somewhere. We got the board back yesterday and got the first sample working today. It'll be on both the Auburn and Alabama sidelines on Saturday. ;-)

TSOPs and all. Was our tech pissed at him! ;-)

I've received stuff from DealExtream from China in three days. No problem, though the US mails, even.

I'll have to get it.

It takes a long time to train a new manager, though sometimes it's hopeless.

Nice. Real Soon Now we're supposed to be building a new building at which point the idea is that the production guys will get some fancier toys than what we have now (...which would include a small 4-stage oven that's used for prototype/low-volume production runs).

With all of what John Larkin's been saying about Xilinx's software lately I keep meaning to look at Altera again; the only time I've used them in the past was for some small CPLD where it just so happened they had the fastest part available for the features I needed (...and this was a decade ago now); we ended up with a board that had all of Xilinx, Altera, and Vantis (now Lattice) parts on it! :-)

That'd be great!

---Joel

We had a lot of problems getting the 4-stage set up well enough to work and even then there were real problem parts. We're hoping the 12-stage solves a lot of these.

I like Altera's support better. The Arrow FAE is pretty sharp and always ready to help (and willing to come down for lunch or dinner ;-).

I'll have to find a place (never done it). I just discovered that I hadn't loaded my camera's software after the last Windows install. I'll have to get it from Olympus, too.

could it be over full, a clogged or leaky level sensor line?

--
?? 100% natural

Repair guy said it *might* have been the level sensor which he adjusted. That did not fix it.

I looks like a seal problem, but damn if I can find it.

Hey John, Have you had a visit from an appliance repair guy recently? Say he repaired the stove or something else?

After warranty service on my Jenn-Air (Gack!) cooktop/oven, my nice new dishwasher started making very *different* noises during the drain cycle. I checked it out and found a few 1" *rocks* trapped

*behind* the filter screen obstructing the drain.

I made the mistake of not watching the repair guy while he was busy in the kitchen. After I removed the rocks, the dishwasher returned to it's normal noises and has been trouble-free since.

Now when I have a service guy in the house, I watch him like a hawk.

--Winston

Yes, I called him to fix the leak. It is no worse than before. Maybe it even leaks a little less.

I didn't watch him, but the problem got no worse and no additional problems appeared.

John

(...)

I'd replace the door seal 'just because':

--Winston